Tag: police state

Oregon Governor Signs Bill Overturning Voter-Approved Drug Decriminalization Law

Gov. Tina Kotek (D) on Monday signed into law the sweeping measure the Oregon Legislature passed to combat the state’s fentanyl drug addiction and overdose crisis.

Kotek previously had said she would sign House Bill 4002, which was a centerpiece proposal of the short session. The law puts in place a new misdemeanor penalty for possession of small amounts of hard drugs, with opportunities for defendants to avoid jail if they enroll in programs that aid in their recovery and potential treatment.

In a letter to legislative leaders, Kotek said the state needs to have a carefully coordinated implementation to work as intended.

“Success of this policy framework hinges on the ability of implementing partners to commit to deep coordination at all levels,” Kotek wrote in her letter to Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego and House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene.

The new law will put $211 million towards a variety of court and treatment programs, including new and expanded residential treatment facilities, recovery houses and programs for counties to set up so-called deflection programs that people can participate in to avoid jail and criminal charges after an interaction with police. So far, 23 of Oregon’s 36 counties have agreed to set up those programs, which are not mandatory.

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Orwellian Tactics? Libertarian Party Fears Targeting By FBI After Letter

The Libertarian Party has questions for the Department of Justice after the FBI claimed that a “foreign threat” had accessed its Facebook account. A preliminary analysis by the LP was hindered by Meta, which has offered little clarity on the incident.

In a statement published on Friday, LP chair Angela McArdle shared a letter the party received from the bureau warning of the alleged breach. “The FBI maintains active investigations that seek to identify the activities of hostile foreign governments and their intelligence services who target the US government, private sector, and political processes,” the letter says. “The FBI recently obtained information showing that one of these foreign threat actors was in control of various IP addresses that the group used to log into a Facebook account controlled by your organization. The group accessed the account sometime between August 2023 and February 2024.”

One LP employee with knowledge of the letter told the Libertarian Institute that roughly 10 people have access to the Facebook account. The party has not changed access to the page within the past two months.

The employee said the LP was unable to access the user archive for its Facebook account to determine if it had been hacked and has so far received no assistance from Meta in resolving the issue. The organization plans to do what it can to learn more about the supposed “foreign threat actor” and why the FBI was surveilling the account in the first place.  

While the source acknowledged that the letter could be the result of “good police work,” the party is concerned the move could amount to a veiled threat from federal agents. Those worries are significantly heightened as two members of the party’s leadership have been contacted by the FBI within the past year, the employee added. 

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Missouri Proposal Would Ban Most Delta-8 THC Drinks And Edibles Under State Law

Hemp is often known for being the part of the cannabis plant that doesn’t get people high.

It’s full of CBD, a nonpyschoactive cannabinoid that helps people relax and often found in massage oils and sleep aids.

But much has changed since hemp was taken off the controlled substance list in 2018 by the last U.S. Agriculture Improvement Act, more commonly known as the farm bill.

Now state regulators can barely keep up with the constantly evolving ways that people have found to make intoxicating products from hemp—largely through a chemical process of converting CBD to THC. The market for things like delta-8 drinks and edibles is one of the fastest growing markets in the country.

The fact that it is legal federally was the basis for St. Louis Democratic Sen. Karla May’s opposition to a bill sponsored by state Sen. Nick Schroer, a Republican from Defiance.

“The feds are not stopping the sale of this product,” May said, during a Senate floor debate last week. “What you’re saying is we need to shut down all the businesses that are currently selling this product and making revenue from this product, and then transfer them to all of the people that have gotten marijuana licenses.”

While May was the most vocal critic in the Senate last week, both Republican and Democratic lawmakers have pushed back on the idea of forcing the hemp industry under the umbrella of DHSS, saying that would allow the “marijuana monopoly” to take over this market given the limited number of licenses for dispensaries available.

After voters passed a constitutional amendment allowing medical marijuana in 2018, competition for licenses became fierce when the state capped the number of applications it would approve—initially issuing 338 licenses to sell, grow and process marijuana.

Widespread reports of irregularities in how applications were scored fueled criticism of the industry and accusations that insiders were building a monopoly. That criticism spilled into the campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in 2022, though the proposal still won voter approval.

Some applicants who didn’t land medical marijuana licenses turned to producing hemp-derived THC products.

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Maine Lawmakers Vote To Gut Drug Decriminalization Bill And Establish A Task Force To Study Reform Instead

Maine lawmakers have gutted a bill to decriminalize drug possession and invest in treatment resources, amending it in committee to simply create a task force to study the proposed reform.

The legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee unanimously voted to replace the original measure from Rep. Lydia Crafts (D) on Thursday.

As introduced, the measure would have repealed statutes criminalizing possession of Schedule W, X, Y and Z drugs and paraphernalia under state code. It also would have established a Substance Use, Health and Safety Fund under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The legislature would have needed to annually appropriate funds for the department to make investments to “increase voluntary access to community care for persons who need services related to substance use.”

But during a work session, members of the committee moved to strike those provisions, replacing it with the task force language instead.

“I would just like to say that I continue to stand very firmly behind my initial proposal, and I think that it’s important that the work we’re doing as a state continues to be framed through a public health lens,” Crafts said. “I believe that this work is not finished through this task force, and there will be more to do in the future.”

The revised legislation as described in committee would create a panel consisting of experts and legislative appointees, including people with backgrounds in public health and safety, substance misuse treatment and law enforcement.

The task force would be responsible for reviewing decriminalization policies in other jurisdictions, scholarly research on the impact of the reform, possible implications for drug courts, the outcomes of diverse programs for people with substance misuse disorders and more. A report with findings would be due by November 6, 2024.

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California woman’s 2001 conviction for murdering her husband is OVERTURNED after two decades in prison as evidence used against her is discredited

More than two decades ago, a California woman was convicted and sent to prison for 25 years to life for murdering her husband.

Jane Dorotik has always maintained that she did not kill her husband of 30 years, Bob Dorotik, and over the years she has filed many motions requesting new testing be done on the evidence used in her case.

Dorotik, now in her mid-70s, was finally able to get her message through to the courts that the evidence evaluated against her in 2001 needed further assessment.

During the summer of 2020, when jails were overcrowded and COVID-19 was a concern, Dorotik was temporarily and conditionally released from prison.

Her legal team hoped that release would become permanent pending a court overturning her jury’s verdict.

During a remote hearing, that is exactly what happened when, much to Dorotik’s surprise. The state requested that her murder conviction be overturned. The judge agreed to the ask.

But the good news was followed shortly by the San Diego County DA’s attempt to retry her. A judge allowed the retrial to proceed, but said some of the central pieces of evidence used against her 20 years ago would not be admissible.

Then, in May 2022, as jury selection was about to begin again, the deputy district attorney walked in and said the state no longer felt the evidence they had was ‘sufficient to show proof beyond a reasonable doubt and convince 12 members of the jury. So we are requesting that the court … dismiss the charges at this time.’

Dorotik was once again, unconditionally, a free woman. 

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Prison Phone Companies Involved in Scheme to Ban In-Person Jail Visits, Lawsuit Says

Two lawsuits filed by an activist organization allege a conspiracy between county governments in Michigan and prison phone companies. This conspiracy has involved a “quid pro quo kickback scheme” that eliminated in-person visits at prisons to boost profits for the companies, the litigation claims. As part of the scheme, a portion of those profits were allegedly then shared with the county governments.

The Civil Rights Corps, a non-profit that describes itself as “dedicated to challenging systemic injustice in the United States’ legal system,” recently filed the two lawsuits, which allege a similar scheme in both St. Clair and Genesee counties in Michigan. These arrangements involved business relationships with the county sheriffs of St. Clair and Genesee that were predicated on the elimination of in-person prison visits. Under the new systems, visitors to the jails had to pay for phone calls with the incarcerated, and the money from those calls was then shared between the providers and the counties, the lawsuit alleges.

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A 5th Albuquerque Cop Resigns Amid Widening DWI Corruption Scandal

Another Albuquerque police officer resigned last week amid a widening scandal involving cops who allegedly conspired with a local defense attorney to make drunk driving cases disappear in exchange for payoffs. Joshua Montaño, who had been employed by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) for 19 years, is the fifth officer to quit after being placed on administrative leave. His March 20 resignation letter, which City Desk ABQ obtained through a public records request, sheds light on the extent of the alleged corruption within the APD’s DWI unit, the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation as well as an APD probe.

“When I was put on administrative leave, I thought there would be an opportunity for me to talk to the department about what I knew regarding the FBI’s investigation,” writes Montaño, who missed several scheduled interviews with APD investigators prior to his resignation. “I thought there would be a time [when] I could disclose what I knew from within APD and how the issues I let myself get caught up in within the DWI Unit were generational. I thought there would be a time where I could talk about all the other people who should be on administrative leave as well, but aren’t.”

Montaño says he ultimately decided against cooperating with APD investigators. “In order for me to talk to the City about what I knew,” he writes, “I needed to not be the City’s scapegoat for its own failures.” He complains that Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina, who has promised to “make sure that we get to the bottom of this” but is himself under investigation for causing a February 17 accident that severely injured a driver whose car he broadsided, “has made it seem like there are just a few bad officers acting on their own.” That is “far from the truth,” Montaño says.

Among other things, the FBI reportedly is investigating claims that officers deliberately missed court dates, resulting in the dismissal of DWI cases. But according to Montaño, “officers all know that our attendance, or non-attendance, at Court is watched over and monitored.” While “I take responsibility for my actions,” he says, the responsibility for the alleged misconduct extends up the chain of command and more than a few years back in time.

Medina “has made numerous public statements concerning APD’s knowledge of the FBI’s investigation of various APD personnel and made commitments to complete parallel investigations,” Montaño’s lawyer, Thomas Grover, writes in a separate letter to the department. “However, as is evident in the investigations of Ofc. Montano, the department responded to the FBI’ s inquiries in a manner that is haphazard at best and artificial at worst.”

Although Montaño wanted to share “his knowledge of how widespread the issues of concern to the FBI are, how far up the supervisory chain they go, and other personnel they involve,” Grover says, he “could not provide such a statement because of the myriad of deficiencies APD plagued its investigations of him, and presumably others, with. From procedural errors concerning notice requirements to police officers, to timeline violations by APD, it seems at every turn, the department could not follow basic practices for internal affairs investigations.”

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Colorado Amendment Addresses Concerns On Banning Social Media Marijuana Posts, But Questions On Psychedelics And Other Drugs Remain

Colorado lawmakers advanced an amended social media bill on Thursday that, as introduced, would have forced platforms to ban users for talking positively about marijuana online. But while the sponsor says the issue has now been “worked out” with recent changes, critics contend the revised legislation still fails to address concerns around statements regarding other substances, including state-legal psychedelics, certain hemp products and even some over-the-counter cough syrups.

The bill, SB24-158—a broad proposal concerning internet age verification and content policies—would require social media platforms to immediately remove any user “who promotes, sells, or advertises an illicit substance.”

Initially that provision would have applied to all controlled substances under state law, but an amendment from the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Chris Hansen (D), includes language saying that “a social media platform may allow a user to promote, sell, or advertise medical marijuana or retail marijuana to users who are at least twenty-one years of age” so long as the content complies with state cannabis laws.

Members of the Senate Committee on Business, Labor and Technology at Thursday’s hearing unanimously approved the amended bill, advancing it to the Appropriations Committee with a favorable report.

“We have worked out adjustment language with the MJ industry,” Hansen told Marijuana Moment in an email about the amendment last week, in response to questions about the potential consequences of the bill. “Those amendments will be distributed later today in preparation for the bill being voted on in committee on Thursday.”

But even before the amendment landed in committee this week, a fellow at the center-right think tank R Street Institute, said the changes leave major issues unaddressed.

“The updated version would still prevent users from from promoting NyQuil or anti-anxiety medications among many others, even though it exempts marijuana,” Shoshana Weismann, who first called out the potential problems in the bill’s drug-related language, told Marijuana Moment in an email. “And if you promote those medications, you will be reported to law enforcement. That is asinine.”

The amended bill also still specifies that its restrictions apply to certain hemp products with more than 1.25 milligrams THC or a CBD-to-THC ratio of less than 20 to 1, as well as most other hemp-containing products intended for human consumption that are not “a dietary supplement, a food, a food additive, or an herb.”

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Kentucky Budget Bill On Governor’s Desk Would Restrict Medical Marijuana Funding Ahead Of Program Launch

Kentucky’s legislature has delivered a budget bill to the governor that includes a provision restricting funding for a medical marijuana regulatory body overseeing the state’s forthcoming program until its advisory board determines there’s a “propensity” of research supporting the therapeutic “efficacy” of cannabis.

The language represents a watered down version of what was included in the Senate budget proposal, which would have set a much stricter threshold for the availability of funding for the Office of Medical Cannabis.

A last-minute amendment that was adopted prior to passage on Thursday removed Senate-approved language that would have broadly required a “propensity of federal and international peer reviewed, published research with conclusive evidence as to the efficacy of medical cannabis” in order to fund the regulatory division.

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St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones to Get Tough on VICTIMS – Wants to Hold Business Owners Responsible for Crimes Near Their Stores

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones wants to get tough on crime – VICTIMS.

The far left mayor wants to hold businesses responsible for crime committed near their stores.

St. Louis previously had one of the highest homicide rates in the country. Repeat offenders are let out of confinement and back on the street.

The Missouri House voted on Thursday to approve “state control” of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police as leaders like Jones have failed to fight the crime epidemic in the city. According to local KTVI, a force of nearly 1,400 officers has shrunk by more than a third, with officers unable to address the lawlessness, including rampant public gunfire

ABC 13 News reported:

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones plans to hold local businesses accountable for violent crime outside their establishments, she told Action News 5.

Her comments came while attending a meeting of the Black Mayors’ Coalition on Crime. The group, launched this week by Memphis, Tennessee Mayor Paul Young, aims to “harness the collective power of black mayors across the nation to fight crime” and includes 21 leaders of cities across the country.

We have a lot of violence around convenience stores and gas stations,” Jones said of St. Louis. “So how can we hold those business owners accountable and also bring down crime? Some of the things we’re already doing, we’re finding that other mayors are doing as well.”

Her statement comes as the area is currently embroiled in controversy following the brutal attack of a 15-year-old girl. Kaylee Gain could be seen on video convulsing on the ground after being battered and having her head slammed against the pavement by another girl. Family lawyer Bryan Kaemmerer told TND Gain suffered a fractured skull, brain bleeding and brain swelling as a result of the attack.

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